Grove Racing

Grove Racing is one of the most exciting emerging forces in the Supercars Championship, and the speed of their ascent has been genuinely remarkable. Backed by the Grove Group and led by team owner Stephen Grove, this operation has gone from newcomer to genuine front-runner in a period that has stunned the paddock. Based in Braeside, Victoria, Grove Racing fields Ford Mustangs and has built its reputation on a willingness to invest in young talent, modern engineering practices, and a professional culture that punches well above its weight relative to how long the team has actually been around.

Team History

Grove Racing entered the Supercars Championship as the Kelly Grove Racing partnership in 2021, when Stephen Grove acquired a stake in the established Kelly Racing operation that had been competing in the championship since 2009. The Grove family’s motorsport background — Stephen Grove is an accomplished GT racing driver in his own right — brought fresh energy and serious investment to the team. The full rebranding to Grove Racing marked the point where the team established its own identity, and you could feel the ambition shift immediately.

The signing of Matt Payne proved to be a masterstroke, and I don’t think that’s an overstatement. The young New Zealander arrived with strong Super2 credentials and immediately showed the kind of speed and racecraft that had veteran paddock observers drawing comparisons to some of the sport’s greats. Payne’s willingness to race hard from the front, combined with Grove Racing’s improving engineering package, has delivered multiple race wins and podium finishes that have well and truly announced the team as a genuine championship threat.

Recent Form and Gen3 Era

The Gen3 era has been kind to Grove Racing — genuinely kind. The reset that comes with new regulations gave the team an opportunity to close the gap to the established frontrunners, and they’ve seized that opportunity emphatically. Matt Payne and Richie Stanaway form the driver lineup, with Stanaway’s return to Supercars adding experienced reinforcement. The trajectory is unmistakably upward, and the investment in people, facilities, and technology suggests that Grove Racing’s best years are very much still ahead.

Honours

Team Profile

Grove Racing competes in the Supercars Championship with Matt Payne and Richie Stanaway driving Ford Mustangs. Despite being one of the newer teams on the grid, the rapid improvement and commitment to excellence have made it one of the most exciting operations to watch in Australian motorsport. This is a team that’s going places, and the rest of the paddock knows it.

NC — Staff sports writer, australiafootball.com